brian and alex's wedding

Brian and Alex are two good friends of mine who got married this weekend:



(I'm on the right; Alex(andra) is obviously the one in the dress).

Here we go again

Yet another of my friends passed on from this world. Chip Wyrde, known in the SCA as Lord Christoval, was hit by a driver on the highway on the way back from an event.

Here is a photo from another time (only photo I could find):

The thing that hacks me off about this is that the accident was a hit and run; the driver killed someone (my friend!) and frakking left the scene!! I don't doubt the driver was freaked out: who wouldn't be? But right is right, and he(she?) should've stayed. I just hope that somedaywhoever it was gets an attack of honor and respect and does the right thing.

In the meantime, my heart goes out to Sabine (Becka), his wife, and their family. Peace be with you all.

More photos

--Seattle's Pike Place Market






--The famous tossing fish shop; they really do toss the fish; needless to say, I didn't bother catching one.






--Bhy Kracke Park: the name says it all!






--Part of the Pioneer Square neighborhood in Seattle. Note the grey sky (duh).






--The Cabildo in New Orleans. Thomas Jefferson (THE Thomas Jefferson!) Signed the Louisiana purchase in the room on the far left on the second floor.





Canal Street in New Orleans. The highest trafficked street in the City, and still needing a LOT of work (as of 15 months ago). If you haven't been to new orleans you should go, to see what deliberate neglect does to a city.

some random photos

Stuff I've had sitting around for some months, and finally got developed:

-Yes, this is really me with Hillary Clinton. Whether you agree with her or not, she is an interesting person to meet.

--A motorcade in DC that passed me one afternoon. I asked around, and was told it was Cheney's motorcade, but I have no way of proving it.

--Yup; met Obama too. Nice guy, and an incredibly dynamic speaker.

Some random pix

--At the symphony on the prairie in Indianapolis









In front of a mansion in the Central West End in St. Louis




...When it absolutely positively has to be there overnight,
and you don't give a good gorram how it gets there!

Brakes and the weekend

Brakes are a wonderful thing, but not when they wear out (as they did this weekend), and force one to spend $550.00(!) to replace them. As Paula Poundstone put it: "you want new brake shoes, I buy you new brake shoes; you won't wear them."

However...

I got to spend a wonderful weekend with Kathi, my signifcant other (please, somebody come up with a better term than that!), and hang out with all the Ravenslake people (Lake County Illinois) up at Border Skirmish. It wasn't quite the same without Lochlainn around, but we still had a grand old time, and about 75 more people than last year (most of whom stayed friday night). The shire did very well this time around.

Apparently though, earwigs love tent poles, cause when we broke camp we were cleaning out dozens of them: yick! Could be worse I suppose (giant, flesh-eating slugs maybe?).

Anyway, no photos this time. None were taken (of me anyway, which is just as well considering how unphotogenic I am). If photos get published online I'll put a couple on the blog. in the meantime, have a great 4th everyone!!

Me and Kathi in St. Louis

(yes, that should be 'Kathi and I', but I claim poetic license)


Kathi and I spent the weekend in St. Louis these past 3 days. If you haven't been to St. Louis lately, go! They have done a ton of work there, even in the 2 years since I've left, and it shows.

City Museum is really beyond description; just go, and you'll thank me. (preferably in small bills, ha ha.)

some updates, and traveling

Well, we had the funderal service and post-memoriam for Lochlainn (Dan) thursday. It was sad, and solemn, and stunning, and all the adjectives you can think of to describe it. I'm still in shock that he's gone. It's not just that it's wrong, but it is just so odd; he lived with megawatt intensity, and poof! it's no longer. That's tough to take. Everyone passes, but I figured he'd be around for another 20-30 years. Having been through this once before I'm a little better with it, but it's still a blow. (of course, I could see the Universe sending him back saying 'uhhh, we're not quite prepared for him yet. Could you keep him for a little bit longer?')

Coming back to the quad cities from Chicago, I took Il 30 for most of the way instead of US 88. Ever since 2002 when I discovered MO rt. 94 to St. Louis, I've looked for these roads; literally the 'road less traveled'. And it does make all the difference.

On the plus side, there is almost always less traffic; in fact sometimes there is almost no traffic at all. Between US 39 and Rock falls I saw a handfull of cars in 30+ miles. This also means you can goose the speed...but one still has to be careful: I was pulled over in Kankakee once upon a time. Also, the scenery tends to be better. Maybe that has to do with being closer to it, but you really get a sense of being part of the environment, as opposed to watching it pass by on a film reel.

On the negative side, these routes are typically 2 lane roads, which makes passing an adventure. Moreover you have to go through every small town along the way, which are nice, but that means you slow down to 30 mph and slower each time. That does add travel time. It's all part of the choice; instead of dedicated highway where you can go for hours at speed, with rest stops and gas stations every 10-20 miles, it's more of a meander, with all the uncertainty that that entails. On that point: taking side roads can mean an awfully long time between rest stops, so plenty of gas and snackage is critical....

One interesting bit I got to see from a closer vantage (that I've been hoping to see for some time) is the Mendota HIlls wind farm. I only know the name because I looked it up for this post (ain't the internet wonderful?!); you can see it from US 39 near a town called Paw Paw (yes, this town really exists). I love wind farms because they look so alien. They're sort of a cross between 1950's pod-people horror flicks, and some sort of futuristic stonehenge. Perhaps we could build a wind farm next to a landfill. Then, 1000 years from now, if society collapses, our descendants can wonder just what the heck we were doing.

Here are some photos:

A funny point: these turbines are standing in the middle of cornfields, so you have wind generation and ethanol side by side. There's a joke in there somewhere...

(A wind turbine walks into a bar; the bartender asks 'do you wanna drink?' the turbine replies 'no. I just came here to vent.' ba-dum bum)

...Allright, it's 4pm on a beautiful saturday; I should get my bum off the couch and be productive. Later folks!!

A sad day

*sigh* Today was not a good day. A good friend passed away yesterday; I got the news this morning. His name was Dan Lewis (for those of you in the SCA, Lochlainn Macgregor). He could be incredibly crusty at times, but I suspect that was a sort of test to see if we would come back, because as it turns out he was the definition of honor and friendship. He was a better friend than I would've expected for the short time I knew him, and he will be missed.

I am not a religious person, but I feel this warrants a memoriam:

God, full of compassion, dwelling on High, grant perfect rest under the sheltering wings of Your Presence to the one who has passed…. May their soul be bound up in the bond of life. Adonai is their portion. May they rest in peace.

(el maleh rachamim)

Peace to you Lochlainn, and Marie (his widow); you deserve no less.

Gothic house plan

In case your ever in the mood to build a french chateau:






















http://www.houseplans.com/plan_details.asp?id=17400&st=13

Wash U.

And some of my alma mater:

University of chicago

Some pix of the University of Chicago, one of my favorite campuses (campii?):

healthy

Just a note to let all know I am well (10 days of amoxycillin did the trick I guess), and back in the game.

See ya!

Traveling and being sick

I've had a sore throat for the last 4 days, which was made all the more interesting given that I was in st. louis for 3 days visiting friends. Well I went to the doctor today (having gone to a walgreen's clinic on sunday to with no result), and the result: acute pharyngitis, and a 10 day prescription of amoxycillin. Having taken the first one, I'm already starting to take liquids without my throat burning (I've barely had liquid, and no solid food for 2 days, and my urine started to turn orange; that happens when one's body is processing itself for nutrients, so I knew there was a problem. To say nothing of the fact that I lost 10lbs in two days).

You have to understand; I'm 38 years old, and I rarely get sick or injured. I've never had strep, I've had the flu only twice, no broken bones, no major surgeries, etc., etc., so when something like this happens I notice. As I sit here and type, I can feel my throat getting better, so hopefully 10 days of the antibiotics will do the trick. The one downside is that I'm contagious till this goes away, so there'll be no kissing for a while. I guess there are worse things to deal with.

Why I won't live in Chicago (if I can help it)

--Chicago is great city, make no mistake. Summer days (and nights) on the Chicago lakefront are without compare. And if they build the Fordham Spire it will be a wonderful and amazing thing (assuming they can fill it).....

...But here's the thing: traffic in Chicago sucks. I mean really sucks. Every single damn time I go there, regardless of the hour, there is traffic. Can you imagine a traffic jam at 11pm on a sunday night? Or a 30 mile(!)-long traffic jam? I've experienced both. It's insane, and until they dramatically expand METRA and the CTA, I hope never to live there again. I know they're trying, and there are certainly enough proposals out there for what to do, but in the meantime they keep building more high-rises, and nobody seems to remember that all of these people have to get around somehow. It's not like they're going to double-deck every street in the city (heaven help them if they do). So I'll live in the mid-sized cities (300,000 to 1 million or so), and be happy.

BTW; here's a link to one proposal for an expanded CTA: http://www.gapersblock.com/detour/a_cta_map_for_2055/index.php. I have my gripes with it (there should be a subway under Cicero Avenue, among other things), but at least it's something.

Back to lurking under the bridge; oh, wait, I'm a FIB, not a troll. Never mind. 8 )

Elliot

posting from home

Ahh, the joys of home email access! You see, I have a fairly old (7 years, which in computer years is ancient), and it required quite a bit of technical updating to get email back on line. But it worked, and here I am.

Ok, that's all for now. On to the next item....